Real-time recursive motion segmentation of video data on a programmable device

Recently, we reported on a recursive algorithm enabling real-time object-ba sed motion estimation (OME) of standard definition video on a digital signa l processor (DSP). The algorithm approximates the motion of the objects in the image with parametric motion models and creates a segmentation mask by assigning to every block in the image the best matching model. It was found that the calculation of the segmentation mask was most critical for both t he real-time behaviour and the quality of the motion vector field. This pub lication details the motion segmentation module and discusses a number of o ptions which improve the quality/complexity ratio of the motion segmentatio n.